Locum Consultant Medical Corneal & Cataract in Sidcup

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

The individual will be required to play an active role in the general workload of the department while having a significant commitment to teaching and training of junior staff (medical and non-medical). The post holder will work within the multi–disciplinary teams providing and further developing elective and emergency care for ophthalmology patients within the general and subspecialty services, focusing on the provision and development of the Corneal and Cataract services to King’s patients.

Main duties of the job

The remit of this post is to provide specialist Consultant leadership, expertise and support to the King’s Corneal and Cataract services. The post holder will develop and provide outpatient and surgical services for Corneal and Cataract patients from complex to routine. There will be commitment to the cross linking and stable Keratoconus virtual service with involvement in development, training and supervision. In addition, the post will involve performing high volume cataract surgery.

The post holder will contribute to the strategic development of the Corneal and Cataract services across all King’s sites in collaboration with the other King’s specialists and there are regular meetings of a cross-site subspecialty group to facilitate this.

The timetable advertised, whilst indicative, is a fair representation of the needs of the service at this current time; however, reasonable adjustments will be considered.

Working for our organisation: The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. In June 2026, we launched our new strategy for 2026-31. Our vision is to transform healthcare, and we have agreed six strategic ambitions to help us improve care for patients, and the working lives of our staff.

• Delivering high-quality patient care
• Creating a great place to work
• Leading pioneering research, innovation and education
• Building strong and successful partnerships
• Providing timely and efficient care
• Ensuring long-term financial sustainability

We have also agreed four new organisational values – Caring, Collaborative, Inclusive, Innovative – and these underpin everything we do, and how our teams interact with the patients under our care.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Together with the other Ophthalmologists, to provide a service for Ophthalmology patients across all sites. This includes all aspects of treatment and relevant management duties for the proper functioning of the department.

• Shared responsibility with the other Consultants for providing 24 hour, 7 day a week cover for the Unit on a rota basis.
• Responsible also for covering colleagues’ periods of annual leave and short-term sickness.
• Provide clinical supervision of junior staff (medical and non-medical) as a shared responsibility with other consultant colleagues.
• Responsible for carrying out teaching, examination and accreditation duties as required and contributing to CPD and clinical governance initiatives.
• Responsible for outpatient clinic commitments in peripheral hospitals as agreed with the Divisional management team.
• Contribute to departmental research interests in accordance with the Trust’s R&D framework.
• Contribute to the audit programmes, Morbidity and Mortality, clinical governance programs and learning from Deaths.
• Take an active role in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of the department’s/ Division’s Business Plan.
• Conduct all activities within the contracted level of service and operating plan for service(s).
• Exercise professional leadership for all staff working in the specialty.
• Work in conjunction with clinical and other professional colleagues to ensure that the productivity of staff within the specialty is maintained and their job satisfaction is enhanced.
• Undertake Divisional management duties as agreed with the Divisional/departmental Manager/Clinical Director.
• Be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene.
• Prepare for and undertake the protective interventions that you are responsible for in a manner that is consistent with evidence-based practice and maintaining patient safety.

Person specification

Qualifications: Full FRCOphth or equivalent, Other higher degree or diploma (e.g., MD)

Registration: Full Registration with GMC, Name on GMC Specialist Register on date of taking up appointment

Training and Experience: Wide experience in all aspects of Ophthalmology, culminating in award of Certificate of Completion of Training by GMC, or award of Certificate of Eligibility for Specialty Registration (CESR) by GMC. Fellowship in Corneal or equivalent. Competence in performing all types of Corneal surgery. Competence in performing high volume and complex cataract surgery.

Management and Leadership: Able to demonstrate leadership capability within multi-disciplinary teams, Management course and/or qualification.

Audit and Quality Improvement: Thorough understanding of principles of medical audit. Must have undertaken and completed audit projects.

Audit Publications: Experience of clinical research. Publication of relevant review articles or case reports. Relevant research experience in one or more aspects of Ophthalmology.